POPULATION

causes SOCIAL
CHANGE
POPULATION
We have commented that population
growth is an important source of other changes
in society. A generation ago, population growth
was a major issue in the United States and some
other nations. Zero population growth, or ZPG,
was a slogan often heard. There was much
concern over the rapidly growing population in
the United States and, especially, around the
world, and there was fear that our “small
planet” could not support massive increases in
the number of people.
POPULATION
Population composition is changing at
every level of society. Births increase in one
nation and decrease in another. Some families
delay childbirth while others start bringing
children into their folds early. Population
changes can be due to random external forces,
like an epidemic, or shifts in other social
institutions, as described above. But regardless
of why and how it happens, population trends
have a tremendous interrelated impact on all
other aspects of society.
POPULATION FACTORS:
Increase or decrease in the
population has an immediate effect
upon economic institutions and
associations. Changes in the quality
and size of the population have an
effect upon the social organization as
well as customs and traditions etc.
The birth and death rates also
influence social change.
POPULATION FACTORS:
Population growth as a major
source of social change as societies
evolved from older to modern times.
Yet even in modern societies,
changes in the size and composition
of the population can have important
effects for other aspects of a society,
as emphasized.
EXAMPLE:
The number of school-aged children
1
reached a high point in the late 1990s as the
children of the post–World War II baby boom
entered their school years. This swelling of
the school-aged population had at least three
important consequences. First, new schools
had to be built, modular classrooms and
other structures had to be added to existing
schools, and more teachers and other school
personnel had to be hired (Leonard, 1998).
EXAMPLE: 2
School boards and municipalities had to
borrow dollars and/or raise taxes to pay for
all of these expenses. Third, the construction
industry, building supply centers, and other
businesses profited from the building of new
schools and related activities. The growth of
this segment of our population thus had
profound implications for many aspects of
U.S. society even though it was unplanned
and “natural.”